November 24 – The president of French League 2 club Nimes has quit following allegations of matchfixing in the latest scandal to rock French football. Jean-Marc Conrad, who has led the ‘Crocodiles’ since April, is under formal investigation along with Caen chairman Jean-Francois Fortin and four others on suspicion of fixing the result of a fixture between their clubs.
Another incident of racism has struck at the heart of Chilean domestic football, this time prompting the referee to take the players off.
O’Higgins, who won Chile’s Apertura league championship last year, already face sanctions after fans made racist chants and gestures towards San Marcos de Arica’s Venezuelan striker Emilio Renteria during a first division match.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – The man who ran the 2010 World Cup in South Africa says 2018 hosts Russia must crack down harder on racism to show the world it is taking the issue seriously.
The Russians are coming under increasing pressure to tackle discrimination properly following a spate of recent incidents both domestically and in Europe, mainly at club level.
By Ricardo Setyon
November 23 – Just four months after the biggest football event on earth took place in Brazil, the country has lurched into a new crisis with as many as 50% of current professional players and officials unpaid. Estimates say that the wage crisis has hit up to 90% of the professional clubs in the country.
November 23 – Sportradar has further deepened its links in Asia with a contract to monitor the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2014. The 2014 tournament will be jointly hosted in Vietnam and Singapore and will consist of 18 matches.
By Paul Nicholson
November 21 – Canover Watson, a member of FIFA’s audit committee, has been charged in the Cayman Islands of five corruption and money laundering offenses. The charges were brought by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Anti-Corruption Unit. He will appear in Summary Court next Tuesday.
By Mark Baber
November 21 – Following the election of Carlo Tavecchio, who came to power using racist rhetoric which has earned him a six-month UEFA ban, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has acted to implement his core election agenda item, passing new regulations limiting the number of foreign players in Italy, especially those from countries outside the EU.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 21 – The president of the Bulgarian Football Union Borislav Mihaylov (pictured) has responded to criticism of a lack of money in Bulgarian football saying that sponsors have deserted the national team due to lack of success and that the government provides no funding to the federation.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 19 – Nicos Kyrzis, the chairman of Cypriot club Apollon Limassol on the Greek side of the partitioned island, has unveiled plans to build a new stadium with a capacity of 12,000. Under the scheme, the cost of the build will be up to €17 million.
November 21 – Guinea, one of the three West African countries wracked by the Ebola epidemic, have overcome all the odds to qualify for the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations – but now have to face an awkward few weeks over fears of spreading the virus.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 21 – Czech businessman Miroslav Pelta has said he plans to hand over control of top tier club FK Baumit Jablonec, in which he holds a 80% stake, to a new investor. The sale could also solve a potential conflict of interest for the Pelta, who is also the president of the Czech football association FACR.
By Mark Baber
November 20 – As the Nigeria national team fails to qualify for the African Nations Cup, the countries’ top football administrator is turned to quoting scripture, claiming the failure is a blessing in disguise whilst the crisis over the legitimacy of the ruling body descends into new levels of farce.
November 20 – England fans have been criticised, and the FA has apologised on their behalf, following provocative chanting during this week’s prestige friendly with Scotland.
November 20 – Real Madrid looks set to announce a naming rights deal for stadium after Florentino Perez was caught on camera saying the Bernabeu could soon be called the IPIC Bernabeu or Cepsa Bernabeu.
By Mark Baber
November 19 – In a throwback to the Bernard Tapie scandals of the 1990s, French police swooped in on the leading lights of Olympique Marseille (OM) on Tuesday morning, arresting club president Vincent Labrun and general manager Philip Perez at their homes in Saint-Remy de Provence and Marseille and questioning them over potential corruption and kick backs involving multi-million Euro transfer deals.